Pinterest confuses me
At some point some months ago I signed up for Pinterest, just because. I never used my account, but have been receiving notifications that people are following me. I presume this is happening through Facebook or Twitter contact lists. I have still never used my account. I have not yet looked at a single item on Pinterest, nor have I posted anything. So I am baffled by the Pinterest phenomenon.
I suppose this reflects my general disinterest in visual objects. I’m not particularly interested in art, for example, or photography. I do not customize my computer Desktop, and I do not put up posters or paintings or any other decorations at home or at work. I accept all the default colors of every computer program I use. I wear only a few basic colors of clothing, and am completely uninterested in clothing style. I don’t really care what color my car is or what its shape is; to me a car is just an abstract data type that has properties such as efficiency, safety, and methods such as “drive” and “park”.
When I’m outside, I like best to look at what are not discrete objects. I love looking at the sky, at clouds, at an entire line of forest. I like to see sand on a beach, and the waves, the curvature of the horizon. I like even more to close my eyes and hear the wind, hear the water, hear the birds. I like to close my eyes when listening to music intently at a concert.
I wonder how many people are like me and don’t take to Pinterest at all. Just curious.
I'm practically identical to your description of yourself in the second and third paragraphs, and I dislike Pinterest. I strongly like to see natural things, but I also strongly like to hear and touch them, too.
I briefly wondered whether an audio Pinterest exists or could exist, and I think the answer is clearly No. The reason is that we cannot isolate aural experiences the way we can visual ones. So a true audio Pinterest could not exist either on the Web or even in real life. A tactile version can and does exist in real life: the local farmers' market or mall provides the interactive opportunities; unfortunately, tactile museums are rare, because unlike with vision and hearing, what we touch gets modified, and I understand the "don't touch" signs in art museums.
One thing that worries me about the Web is how visually oriented it is. If I were blind, I would lose so much effective use of it. When virtual reality environments become more practical, those who are less visually oriented or capable will welcome them.